Some Days 30
Wang Ningde
王宁德
Production date
2005
Object Detail
Media
gelatin silver print
Measurements
50 x 40 cm
Notes
Wang Ningde’s black and white silver gelatine prints, with their slight sepia tone, are instantly understood as connoting the past; his staging of posed figures in carefully designed settings may be read as cinematic slices of a larger narrative. Their deliberate artificiality hints at the absurd juxtapositions found in dreams, but they are also Wang’s comment on Chinese history: he shares a dark sense of humour with other Chinese writers, artists and film-makers who reflect on the psychic scars left by the Cultural Revolution. This was a time, he says, that caused ‘catastrophic change and distortion in people’s psychological states.’ Wang Ningde combines sardonic wit with sadness, a satirical view of past absurdities with tenderness. Wang Ningde’s protagonists refuse to return our gaze; his characters are invariably depicted with eyes closed like somnambulists, or with backs turned towards us. Some Days 30 (2005) shows two men, again in Mao-era suits and caps, riding their bicycles towards us. Shot from Wang’s characteristically low vantage point, with strong contrasts of light and shadow, they are silhouetted against an almost clear sky, riding blind.
Accession number
2017.044